Los Angeles daily herald., 1887-12-16
DAILY HERALD.
TWO INoUEsTs.


Doath ~ kWr"iWx and from
Heart Disease.
Coroner J. M. Meredith held an in.
quest yesterday on the body of Efie
Smith, who was burned to death OIL
Wednesday night at No. 20 Los An
geies street. The following testimon,
Vas produced:
Morris Dupuy testified: am bar
keeper, and have known the deceased
about two weeks. Last night about 8
o'clock q woman called Theresa came
and told me that there was some FIRE
in the deceased's room. l went and
found man named Manuel putting
The Are a. There was no blaze, but
the room WAS full OF smoke. ihe de.
ceasel was in the habit of drinking.
raw a box in the room. and they told
me it was morphine. The day before
yesterday she had quarrel with a
man named Mcdonald. She struck
him with q bottle s. ID en- nm. a''
not see it. Mcdonald told me about
=. Never knew Mcdonald to strike
NJ deceased. He was at the house
last pisht, but. laff 81. : q.
.,lce Munyos testified: attend
aha rooms for Mrs. Dupuv, al mel
hedging. house ON Los Angeles street
I have known the decreased ah'n'
ak or seven months. She mas neeh
rooming a, Mrs. Dupuy's house anon,
two months. Last night about :5o
o'clock Theresa told me there
vss q fire in the room l went
In and found the deceased on tvs.
The bedclothes were also on ire.
threw water on the Are and put It out,
but she WAS dead. She Yves in the
habit OF using morphine.
Thomas Mcdonald testified: am
: lsbcrer and have known the de-
ceased about twelve years. Her name
Is Efie Smith. Ane was married, and
about twenty-six years Of a.e. have
been living with her about nineteen
months. She has been DIR hiking for
the past three days. Night before last
she sent for me. went to see her
She was sick and drunk and drank
water all night. l asked her If she
had been using morphine. She said
she had not used any for some time
but that she was going to use it. l ne
maiNed and watched her up to about
e:3O r. M. On q table in her room was
. box containing morphine. About
O'Clock yesterday afternoon she wei
her fingers and Put them in the boz
that contained the white powder anc
took some of it. left her about ter
minutes after six. She was in bee
and awake. l returned between anC
9o'clock; she was dead. / did moi
see the fire. She was in the habit o
smoking cigarettes in he'd. She useC
TO smoke opium when she lived in tht
North l never struck her in my life
We lived together at San Pedro.
Mary Dupuy testitied-I keep q
restaurant and lodging house. have
known the deceased about two
months. She rents a room from me
She was sick in bed yesterday all day
caused b. being drunk. Yesterday
afternoon about 6 O'Clock l took heI
in cup of tea and some bread and
butter. About 7 As last night smell
something burning. sent the maj
and woman that attend to the rooms
70 see what it was. They went in and
found her on fire. went to the room
after the fire had been put out ano
saw the decreased lying on the bed
She was dead. Her clothes and the
bed clothes were burned.
DIR. u. McGowan made post NOR
tenn examination IF the body, which
showed that she was a person gIeall y
addicted to dissipation. Upon the
forearms marks such as tho-e male
by hypodemic syringe. The skin
about the mouth, over the fore part
of the neck, and front of The chest " as
burned and blackened. Upon cutting
through the skin the burned tissue
was found to reach the deepest
portions Of the skin and even the mus
cles The examination Of the internal
organs revealed nothing, except such
. condition as might ne expected in
the organs of person who had habit
ually drank to excess. The cause Of
death in my opinion was the result OF
the burns. The jury returned an
open verdict ard that she came to her
death by injuries sustained by burn
ing.
Another inquest was held yesterday
on the body OF l. H. Berry, a native
of Massachusetts, aged about 80
years. The testimony showed that
the deceased was subject to fits, and
not drinking man. DR.. q. Mellow
An made post-mortem examination
of the body and found The deceased
had diet OF heart paralysis, caused by
the over strain thrown upon the
heart muscles by an ePileptic fit.